Friday, September 24, 2010
Oh Anatomy...I don't know how I feel about thee.
Anatomy…where do I start. Well, the first thing is DO not get behind, regardless of wildfire or any other natural disaster. When I should have been getting a jump start on the muscles of the back, I was cutting trees in Gold Hill. We have our first anatomy exam on Monday; it will cover the back, skin, and much more. The past two weeks we have been dissecting our cadavers and trying to uncover the secrets held inside. We are fortunate that there are generous people in this state who have donated themselves to science so that as medical students, we can gain first-hand knowledge of the body and the differences that run rampant through our lab. The body we have the privilege of working with has small, frail muscles. In order to be successful our group will have to learn patience and gentleness. After Monday, we will start to dissect the upper limb. As we continue, we enter a season where there will be exams each Monday. Get ready to buckle down!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Perfect Storm
Two things I would never like to combine again: wildfire and medical school. Last Monday, Labor Day, I was coming back from a camping trip up by Mount Evans. As I passed through Golden on my way to Gold Hill my pagers, both my Boulder County and my Gold Hill pager, started going off. I found a stopping point to see what the message was, and was directed to a small wildland fire in Four Mile’s fire district. Because Gold Hill is an automatic mutual aid partner I turned on the radio and began to listen, hoping it wasn’t a fire, unfortunately that was not the case.
As I came into Boulder I talked to my dad up in Gold Hill and decided to head straight to the fire after picking up a couple of other firefighters. I rendezvoused with Karl and Kerry in a parking lot where all three of us quickly changed out of civilian clothes into nomex, boots and helmets. For anyone on the outside is must have been quite a site, three young people trying to be as modest as possible when changing clothes in a parking lot, that was probably the last of the humor all day. We loaded up into my trusty Subaru and headed up Four Mile canyon (yes it IS two words). We never made it to the initial scene because the fire advanced and we were forced to turn around and head for the staging area in Boulder. Once in the staging area, chaos broke loose.
It was evident from the radio traffic that the fire was not going to stop in Emerson Gulch, Gold Hill Fire had been toned and I could hear my dad on the radio implementing a back burn to save as many houses as possible. Resources were streaming into the parking lot, engines, crews, single firefighters; as strike teams and hand crews were being dispatched I could hear my dad’s crew struggling. There was nothing we could do from Boulder; it was too dangerous to send anything up the canyons to get there. The rest of the day was a blur for me. I checked resources in, sent them out, reorganized them, worked with logistics and probably more. Sometime in the afternoon I heard the ominous news that Gold Hill probably was not going to survive, I shut down after that. Fortunately I was given some direction by my Sergeant at the Sheriff’s Office and went to assist him with evacuations in the Carriage Hills Neighborhood.
By the end of the evening, my brother had arrived at the ICP to meet with my mother (he was evacuated from Gold Hill to Nederland) and I had briefly spoken to my dad. We talked just enough to find out that he was okay and so was home, for now. I attempted to sleep Monday night, but didn’t have much luck. Tuesday morning I headed for Gold Hill with my mom and brother. Once up there we did what we could to work on hot spots and keep each other safe. It was a long day, but I ended it in Parker attempting to study in the RVU library with my friend Julie.
The one thing that I have not mentioned up to now is that I had my final exam for my Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms class on Wednesday. Fortunately, I had done well on the first two exams, but the pressure was still on. Julie attempted to help me focus Tuesday night until I went back to my apartment, and my very grumpy cat and collapsed into bed. I made it to my Wednesday exam, though I am not sure how. The test was an excruciating combination of early morning, little breakfast, not enough caffeine and no sleep. There were points during the test where I was closing one eye to let the other rest—in the middle of my test. Fortunately I had a good grasp on the material and did okay on my exam.
The rest of the week has been more of a blur, somehow I woke up this morning and it was Monday. I drove back and forth between Gold Hill and Parker more times than I would ever care to, but I was able to help my department. I have made it through the ordeal with my family and my home intact, but there are many others that have not. It still makes me cry to think about walking through the rubble of my childhood friend’s home to do a damage assessment. I can remember playing in the greenhouse and sitting in the kitchen eating goat cheese quesadillas with my friends, today all that is left of the house is the chimney and the garden. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost something in this fire.
As I came into Boulder I talked to my dad up in Gold Hill and decided to head straight to the fire after picking up a couple of other firefighters. I rendezvoused with Karl and Kerry in a parking lot where all three of us quickly changed out of civilian clothes into nomex, boots and helmets. For anyone on the outside is must have been quite a site, three young people trying to be as modest as possible when changing clothes in a parking lot, that was probably the last of the humor all day. We loaded up into my trusty Subaru and headed up Four Mile canyon (yes it IS two words). We never made it to the initial scene because the fire advanced and we were forced to turn around and head for the staging area in Boulder. Once in the staging area, chaos broke loose.
It was evident from the radio traffic that the fire was not going to stop in Emerson Gulch, Gold Hill Fire had been toned and I could hear my dad on the radio implementing a back burn to save as many houses as possible. Resources were streaming into the parking lot, engines, crews, single firefighters; as strike teams and hand crews were being dispatched I could hear my dad’s crew struggling. There was nothing we could do from Boulder; it was too dangerous to send anything up the canyons to get there. The rest of the day was a blur for me. I checked resources in, sent them out, reorganized them, worked with logistics and probably more. Sometime in the afternoon I heard the ominous news that Gold Hill probably was not going to survive, I shut down after that. Fortunately I was given some direction by my Sergeant at the Sheriff’s Office and went to assist him with evacuations in the Carriage Hills Neighborhood.
By the end of the evening, my brother had arrived at the ICP to meet with my mother (he was evacuated from Gold Hill to Nederland) and I had briefly spoken to my dad. We talked just enough to find out that he was okay and so was home, for now. I attempted to sleep Monday night, but didn’t have much luck. Tuesday morning I headed for Gold Hill with my mom and brother. Once up there we did what we could to work on hot spots and keep each other safe. It was a long day, but I ended it in Parker attempting to study in the RVU library with my friend Julie.
The one thing that I have not mentioned up to now is that I had my final exam for my Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms class on Wednesday. Fortunately, I had done well on the first two exams, but the pressure was still on. Julie attempted to help me focus Tuesday night until I went back to my apartment, and my very grumpy cat and collapsed into bed. I made it to my Wednesday exam, though I am not sure how. The test was an excruciating combination of early morning, little breakfast, not enough caffeine and no sleep. There were points during the test where I was closing one eye to let the other rest—in the middle of my test. Fortunately I had a good grasp on the material and did okay on my exam.
The rest of the week has been more of a blur, somehow I woke up this morning and it was Monday. I drove back and forth between Gold Hill and Parker more times than I would ever care to, but I was able to help my department. I have made it through the ordeal with my family and my home intact, but there are many others that have not. It still makes me cry to think about walking through the rubble of my childhood friend’s home to do a damage assessment. I can remember playing in the greenhouse and sitting in the kitchen eating goat cheese quesadillas with my friends, today all that is left of the house is the chimney and the garden. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost something in this fire.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Fire
Holding up despite the fire. Just so you all know, the town of Gold Hill is standing and the surrounding area was heavily damaged.
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